The launch of the year-long celebration, which is on the theme: “125 years of Catholic Mission in Accra: Renewing our commitment to evangelisation”, also saw the inauguration of the Planning Committee, under the chairmanship of the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese, the Very Rev. Fr Francis Adoboli.

Growth of the church in the Archdiocese

Recounting some of the major achievements of the church, the Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle said the Archdiocese, which started as a mission station, had grown in leaps and bounds to its current state, with a population of more than 400,000 Catholic faithful.

He said within the period, it had produced the Koforidua Diocese and the Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom.

“We cannot enumerate the number of churches and chapels, educational facilities, from first cycle through to secondary, vocational and technical to tertiary, hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities, as well as the many social service institutions,” he said.

He said the 125th anniversary, which would begin on December 2, 2017 and climax on November 25, 2018, would include the official parish opening of the anniversary on December 3, 2017.

Lined-up activities

According to the programme line-up, the Archdiocesan opening ceremony would be marked with rosary pilgrimages and processions by the various deaneries from vantage points to the Holy Spirit Cathedral for the first Advent Vespers.

In December, the Archdiocese would focus on children as God’s gift to the Archdiocese and there would be an Archdiocesan carnival to showcase the cosmopolitan nature and cultural diversity of the Archdiocese, with very colourful ethnic pageantry and cultural display, he said.

The Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle indicated that the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the first Holy Mass in Accra would take place where the Society of African Missions (SMA) missionaries first celebrated Holy Mass on the soil of Accra.

Three goals

He said the programme of activities was aimed at three goals which were indispensable to the mission of the new evangelisation — the spiritual growth in Christ and the development of all Catholics, the correct knowledge and intellectual appreciation of the Catholic faith and doctrine and the spirit of fellowship and communion among the church members, societies and parishes, as well as in the archdiocese.

Reminders

Welcoming the faithful, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese, the Very Rev. Fr Adoboli, said “renewing our commitment to evangelisation, which is the ultimate aim of the anniversary, will not bring the expected results if individuals, societies, groups, associations, parishes, deaneries and the archdiocese do not make the conscious effort to evoke the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Principal Agent of Evangelisation”.